Fenty Frat Bros Get Happy; Oh What A Scam!

Hmmmmm... if you don't get it, you don't get it... so says the Post's ad.....

So let's see - when is a fee charged by a contractor to a subcontractor a kick back? Apparently not in Fentyland. I hire you to do some work for me and I can charge you a fee? That is a kick back.

And the Council says blah blah blah - when if they didn't know about these shenanigans, they were asleep on the job. Can we spell c-o-r-r-u-p-t-i-o-n? Catania and K. Brown act shocked, surprised, etc, but they have merrily gone down many of the Fenty scam paths. There is a rat in the kitchen.

And Sinclair Skinner? Before Fenty became mayor, Skinner was running a dry cleaner on Georgia Ave. NW and carrying on with basically homo-phobic and "anti-white" public ranting and ravings. He sponsored a pamphlet (The Georgia Avenue Defender) and neighborhood posters attacking Councilmember Jim Graham as "Gramzilla" that included some pretty strange cartoon depictions of Graham. Now Skinner has a design and engineering firm and DC government contract. Oh the things that can happen when your friend becomes Mayor.



The above is one of the cartoon posters Mr. Skinner had posted throughout my community in 2006. See City Paper article: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/cover/2006/cover0811.html?navCenterTopImg


Contractor chose Fenty-linked firms
Council fired up at hearing; Catania says deals must be reviewed.

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 31, 2009

A firm owned by a friend of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's that was selected in a controversial arrangement with the D.C. Housing Authority to oversee a dozen recreation construction projects gave work to other companies with ties to the mayor, according to testimony and documents revealed at a D.C. Council hearing Friday.

Council members, still angry at their discovery last week that at least $82 million in contracts were funneled through the Housing Authority to build the facilities -- a process that circumvented the council's authority to approve contracts worth more than $1 million -- were combative at times with members of the Fenty administration who testified at the day-long hearing.

Banneker Ventures, owned by Omar Karim, a fraternity brother of the mayor's, was chosen to oversee all the projects in partnership with Regan Associates of Herndon, whose principals are major donors to Fenty's reelection campaign.

Records show that subcontracts went to RBK Landscaping and Construction, owned by Fenty's longtime friend Keith Lomax, and to Liberty Engineering and Design, owned by fraternity brother and friend Sinclair Skinner.

Several council members, including David A. Catania (I-At Large), who has often supported the mayor's initiatives, called the contracts illegal and insisted that they go before the council for review.

"The worst thing you can do is dig in your heels," Catania told city administrator Neil O. Albert. "Your office will be well-counseled to bring them back to us as expeditiously as possible. . . . This is not a water-under-the-dam moment."

Attorney General Peter Nickles has said that the contracts are "legal and binding." Some members have said the council could turn to the courts to resolve the dispute.

Albert said he would consult the city's legal team to see what is possible. He said there are 12 to 19 projects worth between $82 million and $86 million, all overseen by Banneker, which he said won a competitive bid to be the program manager of the projects. He said no contracts, other than one with Banneker, have been signed.

Albert and others from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer who testified before the council explained how the projects were built by transferring money from the Department of Parks and Recreation to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to the Housing Authority to the D.C. Housing Enterprise, a subsidiary of the Housing Authority.

Albert said the process was used to get projects done faster, to save money and to utilize the Housing Authority's capacity to oversee the projects.

Rachna Butani, director of HRGM Corp., a D.C. construction firm, said the process was not transparent. She and her father testified that HRGM bid on the subcontracts that Banneker oversaw.

Butani said the firm's representatives gave her little information when she was offering her proposal to renovate Park View Community Park. She said they told her to use $250,000 to $500,000 as a guide to come up with her proposal. Her bid was rejected, and she later discovered that the project cost $1.2 million.

"There's no evidence to me that that project should be $1.2 million," she said.

Council members also were concerned to learn that Banneker collected a nine percent fee from contractors. It was unclear whether the fees were standard, but council members said they were troubled over the layers of fees that were being applied in the process. The city government also paid a management fee to the Housing Authority.

The contract between the Housing Enterprise and Banneker to manage the recreation projects gives Banneker a fixed fee of $4.2 million and bonuses ranging from $150,000 to $200,000, depending on timely completion. Banneker uses the money to pay its partner, Regan Associates, as a consultant. Banneker also has the right to charge the subcontractors that the firm selects to design and build the projects a nine percent fee.

Albert testified that Banneker also managed the $50 million construction of the Walker Jones Education Complex, which opened in August, and the $33 million project at the Deanwood Community Center, which is to be completed next year.

Albert said that those contracts were also awarded through the Housing Authority and that he believed they also did not receive council approval.

Albert praised Banneker for completing projects "on budget and on time."

The commendation irked council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), who questioned why Banneker is also a subcontractor of Jones Lang Lasalle, a real estate management firm. As the subcontractor, Karim is a consultant to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development on various projects.

He also questioned whether an employee in the deputy mayor's office who was working on the recreation projects is a former employee of Banneker.

During their back-and-forth, Albert giggled at one point. "It's funny. Isn't it funny?" Brown asked, clearly upset. "This is serious."

"If you don't have a small sense of humor, I apologize," Albert said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/30/AR2009103003607.html?hpid=moreheadlines

RheeFenty Appears At City Council Hearing

Ms. Rhee appears at the City Council meeting and acknowledges that yes the those fired are older than the average age of DCPS teachers and the average age of the 900 new hires is considerably younger when she has been selling her line that both groups accurately reflected DCPS' teachers' demographic. In addition to age descrimination, Ms. Rhee acknowledges illegally shifting monies from one program (regular teachers) to another program (summer school), a maneuver that requires Council approval. And she basically says - "screw you Council, I did it, I challenge you to do something about it".

Her logic that she made a decision between the interests of adults and the interests of students is ludicrous. The adults teach the students. It is not some simplistic one against the other.



Rhee ignored instructions about cuts, council says



By Bill Turque

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 30, 2009

D.C. Council members angrily accused Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee on Thursday of skirting the law by deciding unilaterally to lay off teachers and staff -- instead of trimming summer school operations -- to save $9 million in the school system's budget.

The decision, which Rhee defended on legal and policy grounds, was one of a series of disclosures during a contentious day-long oversight hearing that shed new light on the layoffs. The dismissals have sparked vociferous street protests, a union lawsuit and the most intense public debate of Rhee's 28-month tenure.

For some council members, the revelations confirmed suspicions that Rhee ignored a council directive to trim the summer school program and manipulated this year's budget process to further her goal of replacing a large portion of the city's 4,000 teachers. They vowed to press their investigation of the dismissals.

The hearing also laid bare festering tensions between Rhee and D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), a possible mayoral candidate next year, who has for months criticized the school leader for a lack of communication and transparency. He said her decision, which he called "incredibly cavalier," violated legal requirements that she submit a "reprogramming" request to the council when shifting funds.

"I'm talking about the law," Gray said. "Why bother to have a legislative body if the people in the executive branch do whatever they choose because they don't like the decision of the legislative body?"

Others took issue with Gray's analysis, but even some of Rhee's most steadfast supporters on the council rebuked her for the bitter state of relations between the school system and elected officials.

"We cannot continue to have this kind of craziness," said Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who noted encouraging signs of progress in the schools but lamented that "we are sitting in a chamber where tensions couldn't be higher." Under Rhee, test scores have risen recently, and enrollment appears to have stabilized after a long decline.

'Change is hard'

Testifying under oath, Rhee said she was open to improving communications but added: "Change is hard. Some of the decisions we are making are going to cause some opposition and push-back. We can't shy away from those decisions because we don't want to hear the noise."

Rhee said the Oct. 2 layoffs of 266 teachers and other educators were needed to help close a $43.9 million shortfall in the 2010 budget. Union leaders have denounced the action as an illegal mass firing designed to purge older educators. They have gone to court to have the teachers reinstated.

Rhee also revealed new information about the teachers who were fired and the 934 she hired during the spring and summer. In written testimony delivered Wednesday night, she told Gray that the average age of the District's teachers is 42 and that the average age of those who were laid off is 48. The average age of the 934 new hires is 32.

Rhee had deflected claims of age discrimination in interviews this month, saying that the average age of the laid-off educators was consistent with the age of the school workforce.

Thursday's hearing centered on $20.7 million the council cut from the school budget July 31, part of a citywide belt-tightening because of declining tax revenue. About $9 million of the cut came in the form of a reduction in 2010 summer school operations.

Rhee said that summer school has become a critical component in helping high school students catch up academically, recover course credits and stay on a path toward graduation. Given a choice between protecting the interests of adults and students, she said, she chose to protect students. The $9 million represents a little more than 100 of the 266 teacher layoffs.

A visibly exasperated Gray was not swayed, citing what he called Rhee's violation of city regulations.

"You think that's inconsequential?" he asked. "You think that's okay?"

Rhee responded: "I think that at times you are making difficult decisions, and things don't always happen in the ideal manner," adding that Attorney General Peter Nickles and James Sandman, the school system's general counsel, advised her that she was on firm legal ground. She added that she will submit the reprogramming request next year before the beginning of summer school.

Mixed phone signals

Gray asked why the council had to wait until Thursday to learn that rerouting summer school funds was part of her strategy for meeting the shortfall. Rhee, in turn, accused Gray of being unwilling to pick up the phone.

"There have been multiple occasions in the last few months where I have tried to get on the phone to talk to you about these issues," she said, describing one particular day in which two scheduled conference calls fell through because he was not available.

Council members also denounced Rhee's chief financial deputy, Noah Wepman, who acknowledged that he was aware in mid-July that as the school system was hiring hundreds of new teachers it faced a deficit of between $12 million and 13 million in its 2009 budget. Wepman said he briefed Rhee on the deficit, which eventually grew to $20 million, and said she would need to adjust the 2010 budget to close the gap. One of the options discussed, Wepman said, was layoffs.

Wepman also acknowledged that he never shared information about the deficit with his superior, the District's chief financial officer, Natwar M. Gandhi, who certified the 2010 budget without knowing of the potential shortfall. Wepman conceded that he should have been more communicative.

Joyce E. Smithey, an employment lawyer with Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, said in an interview that "if the evidence shows that the chancellor hired employees in bad faith, then the question is whether she did so with the goal of forcing a layoff of older employees. If that's the case, then any admission about advanced knowledge of budget troubles could be damaging."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/29/AR2009102901889_2.html?hpid=moreheadlines

DC Police Operational Orders And Directives

From themail@DCWatch, information on how the DC police are supposed to do it (by their own orders and directives):

Police Documents Released in Response to PCJF Lawsuit
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, mvh@justiceonline.org

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund has just obtained a massive disclosure of previously withheld documents governing police operations. The PCJF forced the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC (MPD) to disclose nearly all of its General Orders and Special Orders and related directives that dictate how officers are to exercise their authority. Most of this information has been withheld by the police from the public. Those orders, released in response to a PCJF lawsuit, are being posted and made publicly available on the PCJF’s web site at http://www.justiceonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=DCMPDIndexOfDirectives or by visiting DCMPD.org.

The PCJF filed a lawsuit on February 5 to force the DC Metropolitan Police Department’s operations out of the shadows through disclosure of its orders and policies. The DC MPD was in violation of its legal obligations, as mandated by the DC Council in 2001, to make this information public and had further refused to make such information public upon written request under the DC Freedom of Information Act. The PCJF’s lawsuit followed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for these documents. The public can now review what the MPD internal policy dictates regarding police-resident contacts, stops and frisks, restrictions on MPD high speed vehicular pursuits, use of closed circuit television cameras, handling of property, obligations to release persons through the citation release program, electronic recording of interrogations, use of canines, traffic safety compliance checkpoints, and a range of other issues that span the full scope of police authority. Advocacy organizations now have access to orders pertaining to processing of deaf or hearing impaired citizens, juveniles, transgendered persons and other groups requiring special care.

The MPD has long refused efforts from civil rights and civil liberties and community based organizations for this disclosure, but the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund went to court to get the documents. The MPD is still withholding a smaller number of orders claiming they are “law enforcement sensitive” and the MPD has yet to release, as demanded, copies of its staff manuals. These matters remain pending before the Court. The PCJF has also sued to force the MPD to publish these materials on the Internet, and to maintain them as current, so that citizens and the public can access these materials on demand without even having to file a request. Internet publication is required by the DC Freedom of Information statute, but the MPD has refused to comply with the law. In response to the PCJF lawsuit, the MPD posted some “selected” Orders on its web site. However the materials obtained by the PCJF and now being made available on the PCJF web site are a vastly larger trove of records and resources.

Last month, DC Superior Court Judge Judith N. Macaluso ruled in favor of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund that it could proceed with its suit to compel the MPD to comply with those Internet publication directives. “Public disclosure of the operational policies and practices, orders and staff instructions of the police department is essential for policing in a democratic society and to establish accountability,” stated Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, cofounder and attorney with the PCJF. “Disclosure is essential to ensure that the police department does not operate above the law and does not constitute the law, but performs those functions and exercises only that authority which the citizenry has deemed appropriate,” she continued.

http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2009/09-10-28.htm

The Unresponsive Mayor

Considering the unquestioning support the Washington Post gives Mr. Fenty, the following cartoon was a little bit of a surprise to me.




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinions/tomtoles/?name=Toles&date=10272009&type=c

Mr. Nickles Flip Flops On What Is Legal - Parks Contracts Now Legal He Says

Mr. Nickles knows best as he has said at a community meeting I once attended...... but even he has to backtrack sometimes - will anyone on the council besides Mr. Thomas have a spine to stand up to Fenty arrogance? Mr. Gray and Mr. K. Brown say some appropriate things but let us see their actions. For the Fenty believers all I can say is Mr. Fenty's Kool-Aide must be stronger than anything Mr. Barry (Mayor-For-Life) was ever able to brew!



D.C. parks contracts are legal, official says
Nickles had said housing group broke law in approval process

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 27, 2009

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said Monday that any past and current contracts awarded without the approval of the D.C. Council are "legal and binding," three days after he had said the D.C. Housing Authority broke city law by awarding $82 million worth of such contracts, most of them to firms with personal and political ties to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D).

The apparent reversal enraged council members already angered by what they see as the Fenty administration's continued disregard for the council's role in legislating and overseeing city agencies. Council members also criticized Nickles's judgment as the city's top legal official.

"That's classic Peter Nickles. This is just bad government 101," said council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), who said the council could be forced to sue the Fenty administration to block the contracts.

Nickles's latest opinion came in a letter to the interim executive director of the D.C. Housing Authority, the agency that recently awarded a dozen contracts for the construction of parks, recreation centers and ballfields. The Fenty administration used the housing agency as a development vehicle for the projects.

City law requires that any contract in excess of $1 million be approved by the council. Officials with the housing authority, which is independent of the city government, did not think that law applied to its procurement process. The attorney general told housing authority officials Friday that the law did apply and that they should submit the contracts to the council.

But in an interview Monday, Nickles said his opinion should apply to "future contracts." He cited legal problems with nullifying past and current agreements and said the authority had a long-standing practice of awarding contracts without council approval. "They did not understand until the law was made clear to them," he said Monday.

Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), chairman of the Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation, dismissed Nickles's explanation.

"What he's doing is backpedaling on his opinion Friday. They're trying to protect the people who have already received the contracts," Thomas said. "I guess we're just going to have to go to court."

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), who consulted the council's general counsel, said he was "perplexed" and "puzzled" by Nickles's opinion. "For the attorney general to give a carte blanche green light to these questionable contracts, even before council hearings or any legislative action, is inappropriate and not in compliance with my reading of the law. If they are required to be submitted, we make no distinction between the past and the future. We expect to receive these contracts," he said.

Nickles said his opinion Monday "clarified" his opinion Friday. "They're perfectly consistent," he said. "The mayor's not happy. The council's not happy, but I'm following the law. This is not an easy job. I call them how I see them."

Four council members, including Brown and Thomas, are holding a public meeting Friday and have requested that City Administrator Neil O. Albert, Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi and other members of the administration appear to explain how the contracts were awarded.

Banneker Ventures, owned by Omar Karim, Fenty's fraternity brother, was named construction manager on all 12 projects. His firm partnered with Regan Associates, a major contributor to the mayor's reelection campaign.

Nickles and officials at the Housing Authority said the contracts were competitively bid.

Privately, Fenty supporters questioned whether Nickles hastily issued his opinion Friday and erred in his statements about the contracts.

The city could have a major legal problem on its hands, said experts in procurement law. They said the contracts can be considered "void ab initio," meaning they are voided because they violated city law.

The city has faced the issue previously, said Keith D. Coleman, a former legal adviser in the city's Office of Contracting and Procurement. He said the city could void the contracts and pay vendors for services rendered. The vendors "didn't know the District government didn't follow procedure," Coleman said. "They're innocent bystanders, so to speak."

Coleman, a lawyer at Reed Smith, said he recommends ratification, a process in which the contracts get approval after they were already awarded.

Gray said he was aware of the practice, which he said quashes Nickles's opinion that the Housing Authority contracts do not have to go before the council.

The controversy over the contracts comes as Fenty has clashed with local lawmakers by reappointing acting parks director Ximena Hartsock, whom the council rejected in a 7 to 5 vote Oct. 6. Fenty signed an executive order Friday that will keep Hartsock in place for 180 days while he looks for a replacement. Nickles upheld the mayor's order, although some council members said it was illegal.

The council is asking Gandhi to withhold Hartsock's salary. Thomas said he will probably ask Gandhi to also withhold money from the Housing Authority to pay the awarded contracts.

In his first public appearance with Hartsock since he signed the executive order, Fenty took questions from reporters Monday after an announcement about a city program to open recreation centers to public school students who will be out of school Thursday and Friday.

"It's going to be tough to find someone who has her energy, her skill set and her ability to get things done," Fenty said in an interview, hours before Nickles issued his second opinion on the contracts.

The mayor declined to discuss the "ins and outs" of the contracts. When asked about the tension with his colleagues in the legislative branch, Fenty, a former Ward 4 council member said, "This is the best council we've ever had."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102603280.html

Water Leak In the Street - How Long Does It Take To Fix?

I am wondering a few things about a water leak in our street. The picture below shows a water leak in the middle of the street on the 1100 block of Fairmont St. NW. I took the photo on September 24, 2009. At that date, the leak had already been going for at least a few weeks.



Soon after I took this picture, emergency no parking signs went up and on one day a crew was out looking like they were doing preparation work to fix the leak. I asked them about the leak and they said it was going to be fixed. Since then the no parking signs came down and the water continues to come up out of the middle of the road.

Today I called the Water And Sewer Authority DC to see if I can find out any info about the leak. While the woman I spoke with was very nice, I was unable to get any info beyond that the leak has been reported and she would "send a message to the foreman for the area" that the leak continues (and has gotten bigger).

A variety of concerns / questions come to my mind about this leak. With freezing temperatures coming sooner than later, this is an ice patch and potential accident waiting to happen. Doe sthis result in contamination to our drinking water? I don't drink it or cook with it, but I would like to know... Historically, this area of the water pipe has had a number of breaks in the past 20 years - at least 4 times the pipe has broken within 20 feet of where the leak is now. How efficient is it to keep fixing a pipe that keeps breaking? Is there ever any consideration of a bigger problem than a one time leaking pipe? I know that if a pipe kept breaking in my house every 3 to 4 years, I would conclude that previous fixes were just band-aids.

I also wonder how WASA-DC prioritizes fixing pipe leaks. Is two months plus standard time to expect a repair?

___________________________________________________________

Update - Monday, November 2, 2009 - According to a man I spoke with in the DC-WASA Public Affairs office this morning, work on the leak is supposed to begin this week.

Fenty Intensifies The Head Butting; Renominates Rejected Nominee

Mayor Fenty doesn't get the meaning of "no". He has reappointed his rejected nominee for head of Parks and Recreation, Ximena Hartsock. She must really like Fenty to be willing to take the heat for him or she drinks a lot of Kool-Aide. I can't figure out what she thinks is in it for her.


Feud between D.C. mayor, council intensifies
Board had recently rejected woman as unqualified for job

By Tim Craig and Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 25, 2009

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has escalated a bitter feud with council members by renaming an interim head of the Department of Parks and Recreation, three weeks after the council rejected the nominee as unsuitable for the position.

Fenty's decision sets up a confrontation between the mayor and the council, and the fighting represents a major test of Home Rule as council members accuse Fenty of ignoring their role in the legislating and governing processes.

Several council members said they want Ximena Hartsock, whom they rejected 7 to 5 on Oct. 6, to leave the position immediately. One plans to ask the chief financial officer to withhold her salary. But Fenty administration officials said Hartsock will remain in charge until they find a suitable replacement.

Fenty reappointed Hartsock as interim director Friday, a day after it was revealed that $82 million in contracts to build parks, ballfields and recreation centers were awarded illegally without council approval. Most of the work went to firms with political or personal ties to Fenty.

"It's almost becoming a lawless administration," said council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3). "They seem to have no limits or restraint on what they are willing to do."

Attorney General Peter Nickles, who often speaks on behalf of the administration, said Cheh "has no idea what she's talking about."

"For her to make comments like that, it's stupid," he said. "She's an angry woman."

The controversy comes in a year in which Fenty and the council have squabbled over who gets baseball tickets, appointments to boards and commissions, and whether administration officials have to abide by council subpoenas. Fenty also regularly refuses to send representatives to council hearings.

Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, has watched the relationship between the administration and council. "The mayor may think he needs to use his powers as aggressively as he can, but when you alienate people who pass legislation, it may not serve you well," he said.

Fenty and Hartsock did not respond to requests to comment through their spokesmen.

Hartsock has been serving as interim director of the agency since April, but the council voted not to confirm her, saying the former principal of Ross Elementary School was not qualified to lead the agency.

Members also accused Hartsock of violating the law by following through with Fenty's plans to privatize day-care services.

According to D.C. law, a mayoral appointee to lead an agency can serve up to 180 days while awaiting confirmation. With Hartsock's interim appointment expiring next week, Fenty's order Friday appoints her for up to six more months.

Nickles said Fenty decided to keep Hartsock in her position while he searches for another nominee to present to the council. Nickles said the law allows Fenty to reappoint Hartsock for "a reasonable time period to assure government continuity."

"The mayor and his colleagues will be seeking to name a new acting director as soon as we find someone," Nickles said.

But council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), chairman of the Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation, accused Fenty of having a "blatant disrespect for the laws of the District of Columbia."

"This is truly government at its worse," Thomas said. "What would make the mayor believe his judgment is better than a whole body that reviewed this and decided [Hartsock] is incompetent?"

'Clearly it's legal'

Thomas led the fight against Hartsock's confirmation and said he will ask the chief financial officer to withhold Hartsock's pay. Thomas is also considering emergency legislation to remove Hartsock.

In battling over the legality of Fenty's decision, Nickles and Thomas appear to be leaning on different sections of the Confirmation Act of 1978.

Aides to Thomas note that the code says, "No person shall serve in an acting capacity in a position that is required by law to be filled by Mayoral appointment without the advice and consent of the Council."

However, another section of the code cited by Hartsock supporters suggests she can remain in a "holdover position" for up to 180 days after the expiration of her term.

"Clearly it's legal," Nickels said.

Housing Authority

Adding to the controversy, Thomas said Hartsock shares the blame in the decision to direct the park projects to the Housing Authority. By law, the council must approve contracts that exceed $1 million

Clark E. Ray, who was fired by Fenty and replaced with Hartsock, said he used the Housing Authority's Construction Services Administration to complete some projects before he left his post. But he said all of the expensive jobs went through the council. "We made sure we did everything by the book," he said. "Everything that went over $1 million went before the council."

On Friday, Nickles said the contracts in question must be submitted to the council. But he said the council should be wary of rejecting the contracts, which he said, were competitively bid. "If they reject them . . . they'll have to answer to the voters," said Nickles, noting that several projects have broken ground.

Fenty is up for reelection next year, and at least two council members are considering running against him. Few expect the tension to subside.

"We all need to find a way to repair this," said council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1). "The current course is not the route, but I am not sure what is. This is an ever escalating situation."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/24/AR2009102402316.html

From the comments section for this article:

concernedaboutdc wrote:

Streff, I am not a fan of the Council, or any politician for that matter.

However, I do have a healthy respect for the law. I don't know if you were around, but the reason that the city's council, elected by the people, are now required to approve contracts in excess of 1 million dollar was to put an end to corrupt sole sourcing practices and to enforce procurement integrity. Contracts were granted based on personal and political closeness to the executive, as opposed to, in the best financial interest of the taxpayer.

If early on the Mayor had taken legal steps to change a slow procurement process to make it more efficient to get these types of contracts granted in the city, I think that the majority of the the residents would have stood behind him.

This is not what he did. He underhandedly violated the legal process that he and Peter Nickles, as barred attorney’s in the District, have sworn to uphold.

The council's outrage may be, as you termed it, "fake", but mine, as a local taxpayer is not. Even if these projects are needed in these communities, and as I understand it, the communities approved the design and budget per the existing agreements. That is all irrelevant. They agreed to agreements that are not legally valid or enforceable. They were spending money that wasn’t legally on the table to be spent. The outrage should not be pointed to the District Council who have a fiscal oversight responsibility on behalf of the people, irrespective of their motives in this instance.

It was the MAYOR with the complicity of the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Development, the Chief Financial Officer, Director of the Office of Contracts and Procurement and DCHA that CHOSE to violate District law by finding illegal ways around the checks and balances that are there to protect the integrity of the use of District taxpayer dollars.

The mayor didn’t decide overnight that he wanted to engage in any of these projects. This begs the question why he didn’t utilize his political capital to change the contracts and procurement process early on to make it easier to negotiate these types of deals legally within the government? Why, rather, did he attempt to sneak around the process, avoiding transparency, to get these contracts into the hands of those with close personal or political ties who are not the most qualified in the city to do the jobs. The Council auditor has had to go to the courts to force the city go give her construction contract paperwork that allegedly involve the Mayor's wife, who has zero construction expertise.

This government has been run like a Barnum and Bailey circus since Adrien Fenty was elected. There is no moral integrity to it.

Both the Mayor and the council are expected to be ethical stewards of government affairs. Breaking the law is not ethical. There in-lies my outrage.

Another Side Swiped Car

For a time now, I have been very thankful that our parked cars have been free of random "intrusions" for a number of years of now. By intrusions I mean not only the smashed window in search of what might be found fast in the glove compartment but also the exterior being side swiped by other cars, keyed by pedestrians, damage to locks or otherwise screwed with.

This morning caught us right up to up date though! As seen in the above photo, something made contact with the blue Prius and the black Lexus. In the photos below is the striking vehicle, a Dodge Caravan, abandoned by it's driver and two occupants about three cars down from the black Lexus. The driver turned the Caravan off, took the keys and left the lights on.








This happened sometime around 7:45am. I would have saved a fair amount of aggravation had I been in bed and slower to respond - maybe even slept through it all - but instead I was up and working in the front room on the first floor when I heard the sound of metal being hit. I looked out the window immediately, thinking at first that somebody or something had done something to either the neighbor's or our metal front porch. Then I saw that a mini van was stopped in the street and it was clear there was damage to the front of the passenger's side. It was clear that the mini van had side swiped a car but I could not tell which car. I then went outside to see what was up with anyone in the mini van and see which car had been hit. As no one had jumped out the doors and started running (as I have seen before), I thought maybe there was a chance the driver was legit.

As I came up to the rear of the van, the driver, a Hispanic male about 25 with a short pony tail and blue and white sweat shirt on, was getting out. He looked fine and made no indication that he was hurt or that anyone in the van was hurt. He looked tired but not drunk; his motions were even. As I scanned the park cars, I saw that about three cars behind where the mini van was stopped, two cars had been hit; one of the cars was ours, the other one belonging to one of our longtime neighbors.

I asked the man about registration and license; he seemed to be getting something out of the mini van and talking to someone in the van. The rear side door and the passenger front door had opened and two Hispanic men, one also about 25, the other a little younger looking, were beginning to get out. One or both of them also had a short pony tail. Neither of the two men seemed to have been hurt. The driver continued to seem to be getting something from the vehicle when I realized that he was not doing anything about his license and registration and he was telling the other two that it was time to go. And away they ran, leaving the mini van in the middle of the street.

As this was all happening a few different neighbors were calling the police, who took more than 15 minutes to appear. As the police (two officers, one patrol car) did not find the mini van listed as stolen, their attitude was that nothing was suspicious about the three men running away. They found a registration and expired insurance card in the van -which they somewhat reluctantly shared. After talking to a few neighbors and getting info on the two cars hit, they basically sat in their cruiser for two and a half hours until the tow truck came to collect the mini van. After the flares burned off in about 20 minutes, the two officers made no effort to keep other cars from turning into Fairmont from 11th St. or to warn cars coming down Fairmont that the road was blocked. They only got out of the cruiser if a driver was trying to make a U turn to return up Fairmont.

When the men were running from the car, I saw one of the man throw a black leather looking case into the curb side storm drain. The officers were not interested in the least about that, refusing to even listen to the information. Basically they seemed to be on a mop up mission that allowed for a lot of sitting. Two and a half hours of sitting in the cruiser seemed to me to be a very ineffective use of the police. Is this what passes for community policing?

Washington Gas Passes Expenses To Customers

D.C. gas customers face monthly surcharge

By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
October 13, 2009

Washington Gas customers in the District face a surcharge on their monthly bills starting in 2011 to pay for a program aimed at preventing degradation of pipes and dangerous leaks. The surcharge amount has not been determined, but the District's share is expected to run more than $6 million a year divided among 151,000 Washington Gas customers -- an average of about $40 per year.

The settlement between Washington Gas and the Office of the People's Counsel, the District's utility ratepayer advocate, is nearly five years in the making. During that period, the utility was accused by experts of playing a "wait and see" game by failing to address segments of pipes vulnerable to leaks.

The deal allows Washington Gas to recover the costs of injecting hexane, an ingredient in liquefied natural gas, into its system. The utility also has agreed to spend as much as $28 million over seven years to replace aging pipes and mechanical couplings -- devices used to connect pipes -- in the District. Those costs would not be included in the surcharge. The fee would kick in each Oct. 1, starting in 2011, when the cap on gas rates expires. The agreement, which People's Counsel Elizabeth Noel said would ensure "safe and reliable service," is now before the D.C. Public Service Commission for approval. Washington Gas introduced hexane in 2004 following a spike in gas leaks, especially in Prince George's County. The utility said its liquid natural gas was losing hydrocarbons as it flowed from Dominion's terminal in Calvert County, which had a "deleterious effect on rubber seals in the mechanical couplings." Hexane stabilized its product.

The price of hexane, like gasoline, is volatile. Washington Gas uses roughly 1 million gallons a year alone at its Gardiner Road plant in Waldorf, which serves Prince George's and the District.

The Hudson River Group, a consultant hired by the Office of the People's Counsel, deemed hexane a questionable temporary fix and an ineffective permanent solution. Washington Gas should identify which couplings are failing and replace them as soon as possible, the group said.

"The safety code ... requires [Washington Gas] to recondition or phase out segments vulnerable to leaks," the group said in testimony. "It has not done so to date."

mneibauer@washingtonexaminer.com

Find this article at: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/D_C_-gas-customers-face-monthly-surcharge-8371330-64040967.html

DC One Card: Too Much In One Place?

The school gave all the students one .... instead, my son still uses the tokens on the bus to get to school.... a bigger pain if you lose the card.....

Activists demand privacy protections for DC One Card

By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
October 11, 2009

Privacy advocates have sounded the alarm about the District government's effort to issue a single, traceable identification card to residents, urging the D.C. Council to adopt legislation that protects the privacy of all users.

The DC One Card has been adopted by the Fenty administration as a single credential for use as a school and government employee ID, as a SmarTrip card for Metro, as a library card and as a recreational facility access card. It is designed to be used by any District government agency, though only a handful have signed on so far.

"People get very nervous when they're tracked from birth certificate to death by government agencies collecting information about them," Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh, chairwoman of the government operations committee, said at a public hearing.

Cheh scheduled the hearing after some of her constituents were told they could not gain access to the new Wilson Aquatic Center without one. The Department of Parks and Recreation uses the card as its main credential for admittance.

The One Card maximizes efficiency, saves money and increases convenience, said interim Chief Technology Officer Chris Willey. The card collects only seven pieces of data, like gender and contact information, he said, and it "tracks nothing."

The Office of the Chief Technology Officer is bound by a privacy policy that limits data collection to a minimum and bars the agency from tracking users, Willey said. But other government entities, he added, are not bound by OCTO's privacy policy -- in fact, an agency that uses the One Card is under no obligation to have a privacy policy at all.

And that might be the problem, Cheh said after Friday's hearing. OCTO has oversight of the One Card initiative by default because it created the technology, she said, but there is no office setting governmentwide standards.

"This ought to be something in the City Administrator's Office, managed correctly and monitored," Cheh said.

Privacy advocates urged better protections, strong enforceable rules and decentralized databases to prevent abuse. "Diverse and competitive identification" are inherently more secure and private than a single, unified system, said Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute.

"Whenever the government constructs a large centralized database the privacy interests of those who are in the database are implicated," said Steve Block, legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area.

mneibauer@washingtonexaminer.com

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Activists-demand-privacy-protections-for-DC-One-Card-8364835-63874412.html

Upward Mobility: A Toilet

Americans should take note of the success of this program in India - No Toilet, No Bride accompanied by the jingle "no loo, no I do". While some Americans may think that all Americans have indoor plumbing the following dated statistics from the 2000 census show that while a small percentage, not everyone in America benefits from indoor plumbing.

States with the highest rates of residents without complete plumbing facilities in the 2000 US census:
Alaska - 6.3%
New Mexico - 1.8%
Arizona - 1.1%
Hawaii, West Virginia - 1%
District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maine, Missisippi - 0.9%
Arkansas - 0.8%

The broader implications of this campaign are also clear to me - I am one of those who for a long time has promoted the idea, despite it's possible negative impact on myself, that if women throughout the world withheld sex from men in a coordinated campaign, world disarmament could occur faster than anyone thought possible. Just a thought.



In India, New Seat of Power for Women
Prospective Brides Demand Sought-After Commodity: A Toilet

By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, October 12, 2009

NILOKHERI, India -- An ideal groom in this dusty farming village is a vegetarian, does not drink, has good prospects for a stable job and promises his bride-to-be an amenity in high demand: a toilet.

In rural India, many young women are refusing to marry unless the suitor furnishes their future home with a bathroom, freeing them from the inconvenience and embarrassment of using community toilets or squatting in fields.

About 665 million people in India -- about half the population -- lack access to latrines. But since a "No Toilet, No Bride" campaign started about two years ago, 1.4 million toilets have been built here in the northern state of Haryana, some with government funds, according to the state's health department.

Women's rights activists call the program a revolution as it spreads across India's vast and largely impoverished rural areas.

"I won't let my daughter near a boy who doesn't have a latrine," said Usha Pagdi, who made sure that daughter Vimlas Sasva, 18, finished high school and took courses in electronics at a technical school.

"No loo? No 'I do,' " Vimlas said, laughing as she repeated a radio jingle.

"My father never even allowed me an education," Pagdi said, stroking her daughter's hair in their half-built shelter near a lagoon strewn with trash. "Every time I washed the floors, I thought about how I knew nothing. Now, young women have power. The men can't refuse us."

Indian girls are traditionally seen as a financial liability because of the wedding dowries -- often a life's savings -- their fathers often shell out to the groom's family. But that is slowly changing as women marry later and grow more financially self-reliant. More rural girls are enrolled in school than ever before.

A societal preference for boys here has become an unlikely source of power for Indian women. The abortion of female fetuses in favor of sons -- an illegal but widespread practice -- means there are more eligible bachelors than potential brides, allowing women and their parents to be more selective when arranging a match.

"I will have to work hard to afford a toilet. We won't get any bride if we don't have one now," said Harpal Sirshwa, 22, who is hoping to marry soon. Neem tree branches hung in the doorway of his parents' home, a sign of pride for a family with sons. "I won't be offended when the woman I like asks for a toilet."

Satellite television and the Internet are spreading images of rising prosperity and urban middle-class accouterments to rural areas, such as spacious apartments -- with bathrooms -- and women in silk saris rushing off to the office.

India's rapid urbanization has also contributed to rising aspirations in small towns and villages. On a crowded highway that runs into this village, about 170 miles north of New Delhi, young women, once seen clinging to the backs of motorbikes driven by their fathers or husbands, now drive their own scooters. One recent popular TV ad shows a rural girl sheepishly entering a scooter showroom, then beaming as she whizzes through the parking lot on her new moped.

With economic freedom, women are increasingly expecting more, and toilets are at the top of their list, they say.

The lack of sanitation is not only an inconvenience but also contributes to the spread of diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid and malaria.

"Women suffer the most since there are prying eyes everywhere," said Ashok Gera, a doctor who works in a one-room clinic here. "It's humiliating, harrowing and extremely unhealthy. I see so many young women who have prolonged urinary tract infections and kidney and liver problems because they don't have a safe place to go."

Previous attempts to bring toilets to poor Indian villages have mostly failed. A 2001 project sponsored by the World Bank never took off because many people used the latrines as storage facilities or took them apart to build lean-tos, said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Center for Social Research in New Delhi, who worked on the program.

But by linking toilets to courtship, "No Toilet, No Bride" has been the most successful effort so far. Walls in many villages are painted with slogans in Hindi, such as "I won't get my daughter married into a household which does not have a toilet." Even popular soap operas have featured dramatic plots involving the campaign.

"The 'No Toilet, No Bride' program is a bloodless coup," said Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International, a social organization, and winner of this year's Stockholm Water Prize for developing inexpensive, eco-friendly toilets. "When I started, it was a cultural taboo to even talk about toilets. Now it's changing. My mother used to wake up at 4 a.m. to find someplace to go quietly. My wife wakes up at 7 a.m., and can go safely in her home."

Pathak runs a school and job-training center for women who once cleaned up human waste by hand. They are known as untouchables, the lowest caste in India's social order. As more toilets come to India, the women are less likely to have to do such jobs, Pathak said.

"I want so much for them to have skills and dignity," Pathak said. "I tell the government all the time: If India wants to be a superpower, first we need toilets. Maybe it will be our women who finally change that."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/11/AR2009101101934.html?hpid=topnews&sub=AR

DC Council Stands Up To Fenty

The DC Council has taken the unusual step of rebuking Mr. Fenty.




Fenty's Pick to Lead Parks Agency Rejected
Council Vote, Coming After Accusations of Bias, Aggravates Relations With Mayor

By Tim Craig and Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to block Ximena Hartsock from becoming the next director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, aggravating the tension between the council and the mayor and casting fresh doubt on the future of the troubled agency.

After a long debate, the council voted 7 to 5 to reject Hartsock and remove her as the head of an agency that has had seven permanent or interim directors in the past decade.

It was the first time since Fenty took office in 2007 that the council had rejected one of his nominees to lead a city agency, which could mark a turning point for the administration in how it deals with labor unions and their allies on the council.

The vote followed a contentious hearing Friday night that brought cries of racial and ethnic bias after council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) implied that Hartsock, who is Hispanic, did not understand black culture.

Before the vote, council members strongly denied allegations of bias and sought to distance themselves from Barry, who missed the vote because he was in the hospital suffering from dehydration.

But the Fenty administration seized on Barry's remarks and slammed the council for rejecting a Hispanic nominee.

"Outrageous. Outrageous," Attorney General Peter Nickles said. "One of the most qualified Latinas in the city. A PhD. A principal. . . . She was treated unfairly."

Nickles added, "I hope the community, particularly the Latino community, recognizes how shabbily she has been treated."

Tuesday also saw dozens of activists on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate cram into the council chambers to watch the introduction of a bill to allow same-sex couples to wed in the District.

"We are about to embark on an exciting journey here in the city," council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) told the audience when he introduced his bill shortly after noon.

Catania was joined by nine of his colleagues in sponsoring the bill, which is expected to pass easily. But opponents, including Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, and the Archdiocese of Washington, have vowed to fight the measure.

But after months of anticipation, the introduction of the same-sex marriage measure was fairly anti-climactic, leaving Hartsock's nomination as the most controversial legislation of the day.

Fenty, in a statement, called Hartsock a "stellar candidate" and said she "has excelled in every challenge she's been given both as an educator and as the interim director of this agency."

The vote comes as council members are increasingly frustrated with the direction of the agency under Fenty.

Specifically, council members are furious that Fenty continues to push to privatize the agency's day-care centers, which has resulted in staff layoffs. The council has twice approved measures in recent months designed to slow or block the move, and members blamed Hartsock for failing to comply.

"We have had too many examples of people in the executive branch who have simply chosen to ignore the laws of this council, and I am sick and tired of it," said council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3).

The compliance issue stems from the Fenty administration's battle with AFGE Local 2741, which fought the layoffs of 160 workers with the privatization of 13 child-care centers.

Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), known for siding with labor unions, has been pushing since spring to prevent the privatization and questioned whether the city would save $4 million as the administration asserted.

Ben Butler, president of Local 2741, called the Hartsock decision a victory for the union.

"This was not a worker-friendly director. She seemed to come in with a mandate to eliminate our child-care system, which put more than 160 workers out of work and left . . . parents and children without care," he said.

The Fenty administration is scrambling to figure out a way to keep Hartsock in the job. But council officials say she has be removed as director because members approved a formal disapproval resolution.

"The council can only do two things -- legislate and oversight -- and we take both things seriously," council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said after the vote.

Council members who opposed Hartsock said she lacked the qualifications to lead the agency because she did not have experience in the details of recreation. Fenty appointed Hartsock, a former D.C. public school principal who ran after-school programs, as interim director in April after he abruptly fired then-Director Clark E. Ray.

Fenty said at the time that he wanted to "shift gears."

Hartsock quickly embraced her new job, working to meet Fenty's ambitious agenda for opening playgrounds and a full complement of swimming pools during the summer.

But she always struggled to maintain good relations with Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation, even though other council members had grown fond of her.

"My philosophy, absent serious challenges with the agency and its leadership, the council should defer to the mayor," Thomas said. "However, after careful consideration and deliberation, it is clear this nominee has not met the benchmark."

The five council members who supported Hartsock countered that their colleagues were unfairly targeting Hartsock because of their hostility toward Fenty.

"The mayor deserves to have his nominee unless there is something extremely wrong," said council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), adding that Hartsock has been "very responsive" and is "well-liked" by residents.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/06/AR2009100603453.html

From the Post's blogs -

Council Rejects Hartsock Nomination

The D.C. Council voted Tuesday afternoon to reject Ximena Hartsock as the next director of the department of parks and recreation, delivering a setback to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D).

After nearly an hour of debate, the council voted 7 to 5 in support of a disapproval resolution.

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), Michael Brown (I-At large), Kwame Brown (D-At large), Phil Mendelson (D-At large), Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 6) and Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) all voted against Hartsock.

Because the council approved an official disapproval resolution, council officials say Hartsock will have to immediately give up her position. Neither Fenty nor Hartsock was immediately available for comment but the action will likely worsen the feud between the council and the administration.

The council's decision comes as members are increasingly frustrated with the direction of the department under Fenty.

In recent weeks, council and the Fenty administration have been squabbling over the administration's efforts to privatize some daycare operations within the department.

Council members have accused Hartsock, who has been interim director since former director Clark E. Ray was fired in April, of ignoring council legislation seeking to delay the privatization efforts.

"We have had too many examples of people in the executive branch who have simply chosen to ignore the laws of this council, and I am sick and tired of it," Cheh said.

Thomas, the chairman of the Committee on Parks and Recreation, also argued that Hartsock was not qualified to lead the agency because she has experience in programming but not in the details of recreation.

"My philosophy absent serious challenges with the agency and its leadership, the council should refer to the mayor," Thomas said. "However after careful consideration and deliberation, it is clear this nominee has not met the benchmark."

But the Washington Post editorial board and others have raised questions whether some of the opposition to Hartsock was racially motivated.

At her confirmation hearing Friday, Council member Marion M. Barry (D-Ward 8) questioned whether Hartsock "understands" the culture of African-Americans. Barry did not vote today because he was hospitalized last night for dehydration.

The five council members who supported Hartsock argued their colleagues were unfairly targeting Hartsock because of their hostility for Fenty.

"The mayor deserves to have his nominee unless there is something extremely wrong," said Evan, adding Hartsock has been "very responsive" and is "well-liked" by residents.

"The residents in my ward are very supportive of this nominee," Evans said.

Graham added Hartsock shouldn't be a pawn in the dispute between the mayor and council.

"To be rejected by the council of the District Columbia, after she worked herself into a frazzle in making things right, it seems to me something is fundamentally unfair about this," Graham said.

--Tim Craig

Shaw Development - Upcoming

Reposted from the Shaw Listserve:

Shaw Development Meeting Info
Posted by: "Stephanie Marie" dolci76@yahoo.com dolci76
Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:25 pm (PDT)

Hi All
My neighbor and I attended the Shaw Main Streets Development Forum at the convention center this evening, and I thought I would share with you all the projects happening in our neighborhood.

1- Douglas Development Properties. This company has several projects going on in Shaw. At 641 S Street, the Wonder Bread Building, the development is on hold. They are "victims of the times" and are having a hard time getting leasees. They are not sure when this project's construction will begin. 1234 9th Street is the Longview Gallery which will also have a restaurant on the same block. They have a restaurant group interested. 7th and New York Ave, office space and retail is planned. The buildings will be restored and unboarded soon. 7th and Florida Ave. This was a Popeyes, and they are in the leasing phase now. They are taking their time to get quality leasees. They had turned down offers from places that "need bullet proof glass", sell single malt beverages, cash checks, and serve fast food. There is interest from Nike regarding the property. They will not lease to "undesireable" tenants who have already approached them.
They are holding out for quality tenants and will take their time. At the 9th St strip near convention center, they plan on leasing to restaurants.

2- 1501 9th Street- Inle Development. Now a vacant car lot across from Shiloh Baptist on the corner of 9th and P Sts, the property will be developed into a Burmese restaurant with a few floors for seating and a bar. I believe the developer said the building would be fifty feet tall. Outdoor seating is also planned. The restaurant owner will take up the top of the building as a residence. As everyone else, they ran into financing hiccups, and the banks were hesitant with a non-chain, mom-pop restaurant. However, they plan to breakground in 1-2 quarters, with a grand opening set for the holidays of 2010!!!

3- Addison Square at Kelsey Gardens, 7th and P Sts. The developer has PUD approval from the DC government. There will be 54 affordable apartments, with the rest at market-value. The bank is holding them up, and HUD is doing some underwriting. The developer said that things are moving "slower than slow" due to the economy. They plan to start building next summer, and demolition starting late spring, early summer 2010. As soon as demolitiion is done, they have to be ready to develop immediately because there will be a huge hole there since the current buildings are deep in the ground. The street level of the buildings will have restaurants (one white-tablecloth place, and one more casual, but not fast food), and retail. There will also be a parking garage.

4- Media One Center (formerly Broadcast One Center) and Howard Theatre. The Media One Center will be along 7th St between S and T Sts. There have been economic roadblocks, but they have "weathered the storm". They will get in the ground before the end of 2009. Construction of Media Center One will take 24 months to complete, and will have office, retail and apartments. 25% of the apartments will be afforable. Radio One and TV One make-up Media Center One. Radio One will sign a 15-year lease, and TV One is affiliated with Comcast, so the worries expressed about the financial status of Radio One and TV One should no longer be a concern for people. They have pledged $250,000 in scholarships to the community, and will offer students internships. TV One will have a jumbotron outside showing its broadcasts. Howard Theatre (www.howardtheatre.com) will take 13-14 months to construct, and is located on T St. It will be a soundstage and a
restaurant. There will be community programs to teach local chidren jazz. The 100th anniversary of the theatre is in 2010, so the developer is committed to breaking that ground before the year is over so that come Winter 2011, the theatre will be open for a grand 101-yr celebration. The restauranteur interested in setting up in the theatre is negotiating a 20-yr lease, which is apparently unheard of.

5- City Market at O Street. The developer of City Market at O St is also a member of the Shaw Main Streets Board, and is very vested in the community. In 2008, all of their equity partners disappeared. They have been able to secure a $2.5 million pre-development grant, and the start date is September 3, 2010. On that date, they will begin the first phase, which is the revitalization, restoration and stabilization of the O Street Market. The new Giant will be in the marketplace, taking up 7th St between O and P Sts. There will be a coffee shop on the corner of 7th and O Sts, and a cafe inside the Giant. The Giant will be 54,000 sq ft of selling space. That does not include the prep-space for all of the prepared foods, etc. The closest size supermarket is the new Safeway, which totals 54,000-56,000 sq ft but that includes all of their prep space. There will be murals along the building on 7th and P Sts, done by local artists. The
murals will depict food and Shaw history. The current Giant will close January 15, 2011 and will be back up and running in 24 months (they are planning for 18 mos). Demolition of Giant will start Feb 2011. They plan to reopen 8th St between O and P Sts to limited traffic. There will also be retail, a gym, restaurant (6,000 to 8,000 sq ft), senior housing, 260 market-rate apartments, a hotel, condos and 567 parking spaces. The condos will face 9th St, and the hotel lobby will be at 9th and O Sts. The Giant, apartments, senior housing and hotel will be built first. The apartments and senior housing breakground Feb 2012.

That is the major news, in a nutshell. As a sidenote, we learned that there is a project at 7th and R Sts for 96 rental units, all afforable, but there is a lot of tweaking left. We also learned that Marriott owns land around 9th and L Sts, and will build two smaller hotels along with retail, before the big Marriott Marquee is completed.

We are well on our way to be a destination here in Shaw, and not just somewhere to pass through!
Thanks
Stephanie on Marion

Rooftop Solar In Spain - Made In The USA

Rooftop solar - somebody in Spain is getting it........ now if our so called energy planners would just get it.......

Monday, October 5, 2009, 5:17pm PDT | Modified: Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 5:00am

Premier Power sells $3M solar power system

Sacramento Business Journal - by Melanie Turner Staff writer

Premier Power Renewable Energy Inc. has secured a contract for the sale of a 600 kilowatt rooftop solar system in Spain, the company announced Monday.

Premiere Power (OTCBB: PPRW) landed contracts for more than 400 kilowatts of similar solar rooftop installations in Spain last month.

The project announced Monday is valued at about $3 million, according to Premier Power of El Dorado Hills. Premier Power designs, engineers and builds solar power systems for commercial, government and utility markets in the United States, Spain and Italy.

The 600 kilowatt system will use “polycrystalline solar modules” by General Electric and power inverters provided by Ingeteam. A private investor group, which has leased the commercial rooftop for a 25-year term, is funding the system purchase.

“With a majority of Spain’s rooftop solar energy targets unmet, and increased government support of rooftop solar systems through a revised feed-in tariff, the commercial rooftop market has become the leading solar market segment in Spain,” Bjorn Persson, executive vice president of European operations for Premier Power, said in a news release.

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/10/05/daily13.html

FentyRhee In Action - Teachers Cut

District Schools Lay Off Teachers
Layoffs Come Amid Scramble to Staff Security Checkpoints

By Bill Turque and Emma Brown
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 3, 2009

In one of the most turbulent days in its recent history, the D.C. public schools system laid off more than 200 teachers Friday and coped with the abrupt loss of its 300 security guards, whose company went out of business overnight Thursday.

The combination of events, which included a skirmish between students and police at McKinley Technology High School that resulted in two arrests, highlighted the challenges faced by Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) as they struggle to reform the troubled system in lean economic times. The layoffs were the deepest cuts for the school system since 2003.

In all, 388 school employees received separation notices, the latest jolt to a system that has seen broad and sometimes wrenching change under Rhee. The schools chief has rolled out a tough evaluation regimen that links some instructors' job security to standardized test scores and raised the bar for other educators with an elaborate set of classroom requirements and guidelines.

In a sign of significant progress, a federal judge told Rhee on Friday that the city had made enough gains in reforming its special education system that he would consider releasing the District from court oversight.

But Rhee, beginning her third school year in the District, also learned on the eve of the layoffs that Hawk One, the company that placed security guards in the city's 127 schools, had gone out of business. The company had been experiencing financial troubles and was not expected to continue working in schools when its contract expired in December, but its abrupt collapse sent officials scrambling.

"These same security guards, they dealt with the kids throughout the year, so you take them away from the students in addition to taking the teachers away and replace them with D.C. cops -- it was a terrible situation," said Kaprice Perry, whose daughter is a senior at McKinley.

Schools opened Friday with a patchwork of police and school administrators staffing security checkpoints. Although the loss of the guards slowed the beginning of school at some locations, the day proceeded quietly by most accounts. Two firms, Securitas and U.S. Security Associates, will be working at schools beginning Monday, officials said.

The McKinley scuffle was the only serious incident reported. An estimated 200 students gathered outside the Northeast Washington school as the day ended to protest the staff layoffs. Witnesses said that a female student angrily confronted police and fell or was knocked to the ground. She was arrested.

Saymendy Lloyd, mother of a ninth-grader at McKinley, said she was arrested for disorderly conduct after questioning the student's arrest. "I said children should be able to express themselves," Lloyd said. "They said, 'You're interfering with police business.' "

Police said two people were arrested but gave no details.

"This should not have happened," said McKinley PTA President Michelle Lewis. "The mayor should have handled it different. This whole year is disrupted."

Officials said the layoffs were necessary to close a $43.9 million gap in the system's 2010 budget caused by a round of July spending cuts and what Rhee called the need to "right-size" a school system that has seen steep enrollment declines during the past decade. That meant shedding the cost of extra teachers, counselors, janitors and other personnel. Central office programs and personnel were also trimmed, although officials did not offer details.

The 229 teachers were placed on paid administrative leave and will be dropped from the payroll Nov. 2. They represent about 6 percent of the classroom teaching force of 3,800.

School officials did not specify which schools had experienced layoffs, saying only that the cuts were concentrated at a relatively small number. They said 39 schools experienced no layoffs, and another 37 lost just one staff member. A dozen schools lost five or more. The heaviest cutbacks were expected to occur in high schools, some of which have not reached their projected enrollments.

Sources said as many as 20 faculty and staff members at Cardozo High School were in danger of dismissal, along with 18 at Ballou High and 15 at Spingarn High. Rhee promised minimal disruption to student schedules.

Principals were provided with a "separation notification script" to use when presenting teachers with dismissal notices Friday afternoon. It asked that they return all District property and said they could return Saturday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to gather personal belongings.

At Cardozo High School, Brittany Lee, 25, a laid-off first-year special-ed teacher, was loading boxes into her car, aided by a student. She said some students in her class read on the second-grade level, and she questioned the District's ability to serve them.

"I don't understand what class my students are going to learn to read in," Lee said.

Veteran teachers had expressed fears that they would be targeted by Rhee and school principals, who were not bound by seniority considerations in drawing up layoff lists. Rhee did not offer details but said the terminated employees as a group were "consistent with the overall demographic makeup of the staff."

Washington Teachers' Union president George Parker disputed Rhee's numbers and analysis. He said he had been informed by Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson that 266 teachers were terminated. He said early indications, based on calls he had received from teachers, were that the terminated group was predominantly "senior teachers over 50."

"It's a very disturbing pattern," Parker said. "Clearly, a lot of mistrust has been generated by this."

Rhee also faces questions about the fiscal justification for the layoffs. D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, who contends that the dismissals are not necessary, announced Friday that he will hold hearings this month. "I'm convening this hearing so that we, as a community, can get to the bottom of these decisions," Gray (D) said in a statement.

Parker added that the turmoil created by the layoffs had deflected his attention from trying to reach a contract agreement with Rhee and the District. Talks have proceeded intermittently for almost two years, slowed by disputes over job security issues.

"Clearly, this has had some interruption," said Parker. "Our focus from a union standpoint is on the workforce and the students."

Asked whether Friday was her most difficult day as chancellor, Rhee said that it was hard to assess.

"Anytime you're dealing with a situation like this, it's difficult," she said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/02/AR2009100202289.html

City Council Regulates Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

More and more cities and counties are addressing these issues - DC approved some form of medical marijuana by citizen initiative but Congress prohibited DC from counting the votes. If those votes are ever counted, the issues in this article will be real here in DC.

Rules proposed for city's marijuana clinics

by Shane Benjamin
Herald Staff Writer

Article Last Updated; Tuesday, October 06, 2009 12:25AM

The Durango City Council will consider a new ordinance tonight that governs medicinal marijuana dispensaries in the city, including a rule that requires clinics to install an alarm system with video surveillance.

The proposed ordinance also addresses when, where and how marijuana providers can operate.

In August, Durango Police Chief David Felice raised concerns about the lack of regulation and oversight of dispensaries in the city. In response, the City Council approved an emergency ordinance temporarily suspending the issuance of business licenses to marijuana providers until guidelines could be drafted.

Coloradoans voted in 2000 to legalize medical marijuana, and dispensaries proliferated this year after the federal government announced it won’t perform raids on state-sanctioned businesses. There are four dispensaries in Durango – all of them opened this year.

The draft ordinance is largely a compromise between city staff members and marijuana providers, said City Manager Ron LeBlanc.

“The process was good,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a win-win all around.”

Under the proposed ordinance, dispensaries cannot be located within 500 feet of schools, day cares and public parks. They could operate in commercial districts, but not residential areas, including as home businesses.
Hours of operation would be limited to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Dispensaries would be required to have an alarm system that notifies law enforcement if the business is burglarized. The alarm system must be equipped with video and voice surveillance.

Clinics that house prescription drugs have a similar requirement, LeBlanc said.

Likewise, inventory containing marijuana will need to be placed in a locked and secure safe while the business is closed.

Three of the four dispensaries contacted Monday said they have no problem with the security measures proposed in the ordinance, but some would have to make upgrades to be in compliance with the law.

Dispensaries would need to apply for a store-front sign through the Planning Commission. No exterior signage could use the words “marijuana,” “cannabis,” or any other word or phrase commonly understood to refer to marijuana.

That may come as bad news to Eric Gay, owner of Holistic Hemp LLC on Florida Road, who has a store-front sign but doesn’t use his office as a walk-in clinic.

“I don’t know if I would be grandfathered in,” he said. “I don’t plan on changing my business name.”
Other proposed rules include:

- No smoking of marijuana – even if obtained legally – within 15 feet of dispensaries.
- Dispensaries could not employ anyone younger than 18.
- All owners of dispensaries must undergo a criminal background check when seeking an application or renewal.

Nate Fete, manager of Nature’s Medicine, 129 E. 32nd St., said it’s a good ordinance so far.

“I thought we did a really good job of figuring out what would be best for the city of Durango,” he said.

Mark Busnardo, co-owner of Durango Healing Center, 473 E. College Drive, said he’s also OK with the proposed ordinance. But his business currently stays open until 9 p.m. Friday nights, so he might have to change his hours.

The purpose of the ordinance was to help residents and public officials better understand marijuana dispensaries and feel better about their legitimacy in the community, Busnardo said.

Gay, with Holistic Hemp, said it’s unfortunate an ordinance is needed, and people don’t understand the medicinal qualities of marijuana.

“I think there’s just a whole lot of fuss over this, and there shouldn’t be,” he said. “It’s safer than alcohol; it’s safer than most prescription drugs.”

shane@durangoherald.com

Contents copyright ©, the Durango Herald. All rights reserved.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/10/06/Rules_proposed_for_citys_marijuana_clinics/